Samaritan

Worship Well

/ JJS / 3 Comments

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Today’s readings (click below to open in a new tab/window):
Psalms 130; 148,Genesis 11:27-12:8, Hebrews 7:1-17, John 4:16-26

Samaritans and Jews shared common roots but also shared a bitterness – even a hostility – over religious differences. When Jesus passed through Samaria, he sat by a well to rest while his disciples went into town for food.  He asked a local woman for a drink of water, and as a result of the conversation that followed she recognized him as a prophet. Then, for the first time in John’s gospel, Jesus identified himself as the Messiah. John the Baptist and the disciples already believed this but, according to John’s narrative, Jesus had not confirmed it. So why would he choose to reveal himself openly to this non-Jewish woman in this non-Jewish place?

The well where they met was Jacob’s well, a site significant to both Jewish and Samaritan history. When Jesus said those who drank its waters would be thirsty again, but those who drank the living water he offered would never thirst again, he was saying eternal life was not found in or bound to any material source but in the truth. When the woman pointed out that Jews worship in Jerusalem and Samaritans on Mount Gerizim, he responded: “the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem […], when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.”  His words told her, and tell us today, God is greater than any constraints of tradition or culture.

What constraints do Christians place on God and worship today? We insist on creeds and denominations that are more products of political history than spiritual necessity. Within denominations we have yet more division among groups who believe they own more truth than others. Like a person who believes nothing exists beyond what can be seen through a single window, we can mistakenly use the Bible to limit our understanding of God rather than accept truth wherever it is found.

Unexpected revelation from God occurs not when we are certain and comfortable, but when we are questioning and in strange – perhaps enemy – territory. Sometimes we have to leave our temple or mountain to find where the living waters flow.

Comfort: God is greater than any box we try to put him in.

Challenge: Think critically about your own assumptions, including those taught to you.

Prayer: God of all creation, forgive me when I don’t love all you have made. Amen.

Discussion: What restrictions do you try to place on God? Who do you exclude as a result?

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Gathering the Sparks

/ JJS / Leave a comment

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Today’s readings (click to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 36; 147:12-20, Genesis 11:1-9, Hebrews 6:13-20, John 4:1-15

Though Charles Darwin did not write On The Origin Of Species as an attack on Christianity, many people interpreted it that way. The controversy of the seeming conflict  between natural selection and Genesis was not limited to Biblical literalists, but was also a concern for Christians who were not in theory opposed to more scientific theories of creation. The real danger of Darwin’s theory was what it said about the nature of life: it was not powered by love and redemption, but by competition and dominance. What did this reveal about God?

Maybe nothing as startling as it seemed. Another Biblical myth – the Tower of Babel – tells us that when God felt humans were growing too powerful and unified, he destroyed the tower symbolizing their potential, forced them to speak different languages, and scattered them across the world. God forced diversity upon his creation, setting tribes at odds with one another. Whether we read Darwin or Genesis, competition and diversity are central to the story.

In the Jewish myth of the Shattering of the Vessels, when God says “Let there be light” he sends forth his divine essence in ten vessels. The vessels are too fragile and they shatter, scattering divine sparks across creation. It is the duty of humanity to collect these sparks and repair the world. Division and scattering seem integral to our creation stories. We recognize the world as broken, and long to restore it.

Now consider Jesus at the well, talking to the Samaritan woman. They are separated by language and culture. As a woman and a Samaritan she is no one Jesus should be talking to, at least by the dictates of his culture. Yet he stops to banter with her, not to preach but to make a connection. They join their sparks to repair one tiny corner of the creation.

Other animals may be shaped by their environments, but humans can choose to shape the environment instead. When we choose cooperation over competition, we help repair the world. Each spark we collect illuminates what it means to be created in the image of a creator. Our brokenness offers the potential to create something divine in a way unquestioned wholeness never could.

Comfort: Brokenness is not a final state; it is the beginning of reconciliation.

Challenge: We have busy lives, and ignore many of the sparks of creation. Where can you slow down and make connections?

Prayer: Lord, make me an instrument of your divine reconciliation. Amen.

Discussion: Are you by nature more cooperative or competitive? Why do you think that is?

Join the discussion! If you enjoyed this post, feel free to join an extended discussion as part of the C+C Facebook group. You’ll be notified of new posts through FB, and have the opportunity to share your thoughts with some lovely people. Or feel free to comment here on WordPress, or even re-blog – the more the merrier!